3D Realms: We Haven't Closed

Well, it seems reports of 3D Realms' demise have been greatly exaggerated. Whoever's left at the company has fired off a press release announcing that they have not closed.

"3DR retains ownership of the Duke Nukem franchise. Due to lack of funding, however, we are saddened to confirm that we let the Duke Nukem Forever development team go on May 6th, while we regroup as a company," said 3D Realms in the release issued today. "While 3DR is a much smaller studio now, we will continue to operate as a company and continue to license and co-create games based upon the Duke Nukem franchise,"

The release goes on to give 3DR's version of the events leading up to the DNF team being fired. 3DR was self-funding the development of DNF while negotiating with Take-Two and allegedly spent $20 million on the project. Take-Two abruptly changed the terms of their proposed funding agreement and when 3DR informed them that they would be unable to afford this new agreement, Take-Two attempted to buy the DNF team and the Duke Nukem franchise from them. 3DR claims that Take-Two's offer was "unacceptable" because it included no guaranteed or upfront money and thus the proposed purchase never occurred. The DNF team was finally canned after these negotiations broke down.

Take-Two is now suing 3D Realms, accusing the studio of breach of contract for their failure to finish the game. 3DR said this about the lawsuit: "While we cannot comment on the details of the ongoing lawsuit, we believe Take-Two's lawsuit is without merit and merely a bully tactic to obtain ownership of the Duke Nukem franchise. We will vigorously defend ourselves against this publisher."

Though Take-Two owns the publishing rights to DNF, I suspect they won't be chomping at the bit to release that thing. They'd probably be better off stowing the game in a crate and putting it in that warehouse from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The damn game is cursed, I tell you.